Drago's Revenge
by sonicking2004
Summary: When Drago Bludvist attempted to force Toothless to kill Hiccup, Stoick the Vast found a shield that allowed him to save Hiccup's life, allowing his son and his dragon to drive Drago and his Alpha from the nest. Now the shield and the title of Chief have been passed down to Hiccup, but is he prepared for when Drago comes to finish what he stared? Follows "The Shield"
1. Chapter 1: The Ambush

**The Ambush**

_This is Berk. Here on this damp hunk of rock we enjoy two lovely different climate types throughout the year: cold and dry, and cold and wet. The one main thing that makes living here enjoyable at all is our mode of transportation._

_Now most places you might see others riding on horseback or in wagons pulled by oxen. If we have to travel a considerable distance then we might sail in ships like our ancestors had for centuries. Our main choice for getting from point A to point B, however, is….dragon riding!_

_I know what you're thinking, "Riding on the back of something that flies, breathes fire, and can eat you? You're crazy!" But the simple fact is that we're Vikings, that's pretty much the definition of 'crazy'. Of course most other Vikings also think we're crazy for befriending the ancient enemy that they've hunted for generations, but seven years ago I found out that dragons were simply misunderstood. While they were to be treated with respect, I learned that if we approach them correctly then they could be the greatest of companions, and eventually I'd brought my entire village around to my way of thinking. _

_For the next few years I spent most of my time learning all that I could about them, and whenever anyone had any questions about their new dragon friend they would come to me. For a while I came to think myself the greatest dragon expert around. And then I met my mother. Yeah, turns out that while everyone believed that she had been killed by a dragon when I was a baby, she had actually spent the next 20 years living with them, learning secrets even I had yet to discover! _

_I don't really miss everyone always coming to me for dragon advice, however, as I have new responsibilities now. You see, the day that I found my missing mother (and Berk got a huge dragon population boost thanks to our liberating them from the cruel control of Drago Bludvist) was also the day that my father Stoick the Vast retired as Chieftain of Berk and I took his place. Thankfully he still lives with us in the village so I can come to him for advice, along with my mother who is always willing to impart her dragon knowledge onto me. _

_When I think of how the battle with Drago might have gone differently had Dad not found that shield that day, I cannot help but shudder. Now he's passed the shield on down to me, as it was "too small" for him. Of course I've learned some neat tricks with this strange shield, though nothing that I feel is all that useful, but seeing as how handy it came in against Drago I still keep it with me all the time._

_So that's how I spend my days most of the time these last two years, either running the village, learning from my Mom and Dad, or trying to unravel the mysteries of this shield. Today, however…._

* * *

"Where _is_ that boy!?" Stoick barked grumpily as he paced quickly back and forth across the grand hall.

"Stoick, calm down," Valka chuckled at her agitated husband.

"Calm down?" Stoick asked her in disbelief, "Valka, I had our whole day planned today! We were to go and fill the orders at Gobber's, then we had that important meeting with the other Chieftains before we went out on a patrol to make sure Drago's trappers weren't getting into any mischief, but before I could tell him any of that he tells me he'll be right back, then he takes off without letting me know where he's off to!"

Valka lays her hand tenderly on Stoick's face, which seems to have an immediate soothing effect, as she says, "Dear Stoick, I know it hasn't been easy adjusting to being retired, but you have to understand that our son is the one who is Chieftain now, not you."

Stoick sighs as he looks into her eyes, then he continues less heatedly, "I know, but that's precisely why he needs to be here at the village, not running off who knows where."

"Well he's been very good about taking his Chieftain duties seriously these last two years, so I think that he deserves a half-day off at least. Also I'm guessing that he left on Toothless, and you know how fast that dragon is, so if Hiccup said he'll be right back then I'm sure that he'll be true to his word," Valka reasoned as she straightened out Stoick's outfit, "Besides, I recall that around 23 years ago you had left your father in the lurch to have a certain talk with me."

Stoick looked stunned, as if he hadn't though of that possibility, "You don't think….you don't suppose that's what Hiccup's off doing now, do you?"

"He better be," Valka responded, looking as though she was starting to get agitated herself, "If he doesn't even bring it up today then _I_ might have to have a talk with our son _myself!_"

Stoick chuckled under his breath as he said kindly, "Now who needs to calm down?"

"You're right," Valka conceded, "It's just that I'm not getting any younger, and our life expectancy is not all that high to begin with. I'd just like to have some grandkids while I'm still young enough to enjoy them, and he's kept that girl waiting long enough as it is."

"I wouldn't worry too much about Astrid, love," Stoick said as he brought Valka's hand to his lips, "If strength of will translated into strength of arm, then she'd be able to take on all of Berk and her dragons without breaking a sweat. Trust me, she won't be one to let Hiccup string her along even if he was someone who would do so. Anyway, I do hope that he takes care while he's out there. Although we've heard no word of him these last two years, I have no doubt that Drago is still alive and out there somewhere. Who knows what he's planning this time."

* * *

Hiccup paced back and forth on the shore of the archipelago, nervously fiddling with a ring in his hands as he muttered to himself, " '…and because we are such a good team, getting married is only the next logical step.' No, no, that's no good, makes it sound like some sort of business arrangement. Maybe 'Astrid, I cannot imagine my life without you. Would you please marry me?' Ugh, sounds like I'm begging. I wish I had talked about it with my mother before I left today."

"You wish you talked about what with your mother?" Hiccup heard Astrid say unexpectedly from behind him, startling him so badly that he jumped and tossed the ring into the air, though he managed to catch it quickly enough and stowed it into a compartment on his flight breeches before turning towards Astrid and saying in a nervously broken tone, "H-hi, Astrid. Thanks for coming today."

"Of course, but what's got you so nervous, Hiccup?" Astrid asked him in concern, then a dawning look appeared on her face as she guessed, "Oh, your father didn't give you a hard time about just hanging out today, did he?"

"Not really," Hiccup said truthfully, then he expanded, "Fact is I didn't give him the chance. I just ran past him saying I'd be right back, then took off on Toothless before he could get a word in edgewise."

"Oh, I didn't realize that we were playing hooky today," Astrid said as she looked down at her feet, her face reddening with the onset of a blush.

"We're not, not exactly," Hiccup gently corrected, "When I told Dad that I'd be right back I meant it. It's just that between running the village, going out on patrols, and learning the finer points of being a Chieftain and a dragon rider, it seems that we hardly get any time for ourselves. I just thought it wouldn't be unreasonable to steal away for a couple of hours, just to talk about some things."

"Oh, you asked me to come to….talk?" Astrid asked uneasily, a look of trepidation in her eyes.

"Don't worry, it's a good talk," Hiccup said assuredly, apparently taking strength in comforting Astrid as he sat down on the mossy ground and gestures for her to do the same, "At least I hope it will be."

"Okay," Astrid said as she settled onto the ground nest to him, taking a deep breath as she continued, "so what did you want to talk about?"

As Hiccup glanced over at Toothless frolicking with Stormfly, Hiccup wondered how he could make this look so easy as he took Astrid's hand in his and said, "Astrid, we've know each other for quite a long time. At least I feel like I've known you for a long time as I've had a crush on you for as long as I could remember, though before Dragon Training I wasn't sure that you knew I was alive, which is why I wanted to learn to kill dragons in the first place. To get you to notice me, that is."

"Oh, I noticed you alright. I was always on the lookout for you in order to stop you from messing up mine or anyone else's job," Astrid said teasingly, "Although I must admit that, before you and Toothless opened my eyes, if you asked me out on an outing like this I would have punched you in the arm so hard you wouldn't have been able to use it for a week."

Hiccup chuckled at the reminder of how Astrid used to be, then he rubbed the back of his neck as he said, "Averted physical violence aside, a lot of things have changed since then, and while I now have more friends than I know what to do with, you are the one that is most dear to me."

"Thanks, Hiccup," Astrid said as she smiled tenderly, "I feel the same way about you."

"I'm glad to hear that, because there's something I want to ask you," Hiccup said as he shifted his position from sitting beside her to kneeling before her, and her eyes widened as he took her hand in his and continued, "I know that traditionally we are supposed to go through our fathers first, but I wouldn't feel right unless I asked your thoughts on it first. I wouldn't want to try and pressure you in any way to do anything that you weren't 100% sure of."

Astrid gaped at him but said nothing, barely managing a small nod before Hiccup continued, "When I see how much happier my father is now that Mom is back home, I cannot help but think that what you are like for me. In fact, there is no one that I'd rather spend the rest of my life with. Astrid Hofferson, would you do me the great honor of…"

Hiccup is interrupted by the sound of a deep rumbling growl barely three feet from him, and both Hiccup and Astrid were startled to see that Toothless and Stormfly were growling in their direction. At first Hiccup was worried that something was wrong with Toothless, then he noticed that the dragons weren't looking at them but rather past them. Also, Toothless was glowing from within a bright blue that shoe though his scales and especially within his mouth and spine ridges, and Hiccup had seen Toothless like that only one time before! Standing quickly to face in that direction, Hiccup saw edging around the rock cliff in the distance a large, menacing figure he knew all too well, a man who chuckled and said in a mocking, apologetic tone, "I'm sorry. Was I interrupting something?"

"Drago," Hiccup said in a low, even tone as he drew his shield and fiery sword, and Astrid did the same with her axe, "what brings you here?"

"Oh, much the same as you, I imagine," Drago said with a smile that held no warmth, "It's just a beautiful day today, just perfect for proposing to a special woman, or for enjoying the sweet taste of revenge."

As he spoke, Drago's Bewilderbeast, with its left tusk broken, rose up out of the ocean behind him. Drago chuckled then and said, "You know, I'd heard about you becoming Berk's Chieftain, and so I figured I'd have to finish building my forces back up to what they were before in order to attack Berk and draw you out into a one on one duel; man to man, dragon to dragon. But then you went and obliged me early when you headed out to this archipelago."

"Well, in case your waterlogged brain had missed it, Hiccup's not exactly alone here," Astrid said as she twirled her axe in her grip, "and I'm not exactly some helpless damsel in distress."

"Of course, my lady, I apologize," Drago said with a bow, then he straightened again and bellowed as he twirled his hook-spear in the air, then he used it to point at both Astrid and Stormfly.

"That's not going to work," Hiccup chided him, "Our dragons recognize Toothless as the…" But then Hiccup saw that Astrid was not staring at the Bewilderbeast but rather something that was past it. Following her gaze, Hiccup saw a glowing blue streak heading their way fast.

"Flightmare!" was all Astrid managed to say before the speedy dragon swooped into their midst and saturated Astrid and Stormfly with its breath. Toothless unleashed some shots at it, but the Flightmare flew off again just as quickly, leaving Astrid and her dragon frozen where they were standing.

"You lousy, stinking…!" Hiccup growled angrily at Drago as he pointed his flaming sword at him.

"Calm yourself, boy," Drago admonished him, "Surely such a great "dragon master" as yourself recognizes the brilliant beauty of the Flightmare?"

"Of course," Hiccup acknowledged, for he'd seen one years before, when Astrid went off to challenge it to try and restore the honor of her family name.

"Yes, then you should know that its breath…" Drago started to explain before Hiccup interrupted, saying, "…contains a venom that instills a temporary paralysis on its victims that can last around 2 minutes, depending on the dosage received."

"Ah, so you have been studying," Drago smirked at him, "Good. Well I promise I will not personally harm her, so long as you accept my challenge. Just you and me. Your Night Fury can dance with my Bewilderbeast all he wants, but if he tries to help you in your duel then I _will_ finish her off myself."

Toothless growls angrily at Drago, but then Hiccup turns to Toothless and says, "No, bud, we can't take the chance." He then strides over and locks Toothless' tail fin into position, saying as he points his sword at the Bewilderbeast, "You take care of the big guy, leave Ugly here to me."

Toothless looks at him in concern, then after Hiccup nods reassuringly Toothless turns and roars at the giant. When the Bewilderbeast responds with its own roar, Toothless takes off into the air and draws it away from the island before engaging it in battle. Then, as Hiccup gently lowers Astrid to the ground, Drago chuckles as he gets into a battle stance and says, "You don't know just how much I'm gonna enjoy this. Your Night Fury won't have a flock of dragons to command to help him this time. And even if he does survive his battle, you are the weak link in his partnership. Without you he'll never make it back to Berk, which means that all your dragons will become mine once again."

"And what makes you think that you can handle me?" Hiccup says across his flaming blade.

Drago laughs before saying, "Your suit may let you glide like a dragon, but it doesn't let you take off like one. Without altitude, you're just a scrawny bug to be crushed under my boot. But enough words…"

Drago then swung his weapon at Hiccup, who deflected the blow with his shield and countered with a slashing strike with his sword. As the deadly dance continued, Hiccup ducking under what blows he couldn't easily block with the shield as he knew the sword wouldn't absorb the force as well, Hiccup thought to himself, _Okay, Drago may be bigger than you, but that means that you're fast and he's slow. He's clumsy and you're agile. He's bulky and you're… _ Then Drago feigns a blow to Hiccup's shield arm, and when Hiccup goes to block it, Drago instead swings the haft of the weapon to knock Hiccup's sword out of his hands. _…about to be pounded into a pulp,_ Hiccup finished his thought. Drago then grabbed both of Hiccup's arms and dealt him a savage headbutt that left him stunned and reeling, then he followed it up with a series of hammer blows with his fists that caused Hiccup to collapse to the ground, wheezing and groaning in pain.

"What a complete waste of time. You aren't even worth the time I spent to prepare to assault Berk," Drago said disdainfully as he casually picked up his hook-spear from where he'd dropped it. Then, as he pulled Astrid's inert form into an upright position, he added, "I know the paralysis will be wearing off any moment now, but I don't feel like waiting, and I want her to know that her would-be husband was utterly unable to save her life."

"You said…" Hiccup groaned as he reached for his sword and painfully pulled himself into a stooped but standing position, "…that if I took your challenge….that you wouldn't…"

"…that I wouldn't personally harm your girl. Yes, I remember, and I'll keep my word," Drago finished for him with a sneer, "But I never said anything about having my dragon do it for me. Nothing personal, but I can't leave anyone here who might be able to take your dragon to Berk and ruin my plans." Drago then turned to the Bewilderbeast, who was still engaging in battle with Toothless, and pointed his weapon at Hiccup and Astrid while bellowing at the dragon, "Finish them!"

As the Bewilderbeast abandoned his fight with Toothless to open his mouth to unleash its frigid blast, Hiccup saw his friend realize the danger and rushed back to help. However, despite how fast the Night Fury was, Hiccup knew that his friend would not arrive in time. Taking a defensive position in front of Astrid, Hiccup held his shield in front of him. He knew it wouldn't be enough to protect him, but he hoped it would be enough to help him protect her.

As the rush of white neared him and Hiccup braced himself for death, a second ice blast struck the ground a few feet in front of him, and the Bewilderbeast's frost breath was deflected by an ice stalactite as big around as his father and twice as tall. The disrupted ice blast solidified into a series of ice spikes that formed a V-shape around Stormfly, Astrid and himself.

"What!?" Drago barked in confusion and rage as he glared up in the direction the second blast had come from. As he felt Astrid soften beside him, Hiccup also looked for the distinctive shape of another Bewilderbeast, for he reasoned only that could have created the ice pillar that saved their lives. Astrid, however, gripped Hiccup's chin and made him look at the top of the rock ridge behind them, where she was currently staring in shock and silence. There he saw not the majestic gaze of the Bewilderbeast he's expected to be peeking out from behind it, but rather four much smaller figures standing atop of it: one man, two women, and a reindeer. As the woman in front, whom Hiccup noted was dressed in a powder blue dress and had her platinum hair tied in a ponytail, lowered her hand and the snow flurries dies down, he saw her glare down at Drago and heard her say, "I really despise bullies."


	2. Chapter 2: Arrival

**Arrival**

As the flames dissipated Elsa saw that she and the others were no longer in the cave-like shrine but rather on a large outcropping of rock on an island, and there was no sign of Aang and his friends here, so thankfully they had not picked up any other travelers on their tour of the ages. Also, Elsa saw no sign of Brooklyn here either, so it seemed that Aion, the Spirit of Eternity who'd bonded with him when Brooklyn unwittingly freed him from the Phoenix Gate, had been correct when he'd concluded that they would likely not accompany them to this destination. Elsa wondered how long it would take for Brooklyn to master the use of Aion's powers enough for him to be able to return to his home. Elsa hoped that it wouldn't be too long for she knew what it was like to be separated from her home and family, and she was missing them so badly now. Of course Anna was currently with her, as was Kristoff, but considering what had happened at their last stop that made her even more desperate to get this journey over and done with.

At least this place smelled much more like home, with the mixture of aromas from the salty sea and the peat moss, and none of the unfamiliar chemical smells that accompanied their time in New York, so even if this wasn't the correct time they were still closer to where they were supposed to be. Elsa heard Anna take a deep whiff behind her, apparently also welcoming this connection to their home as a sign that they were close to returning to it, before she made a small wince in pain. Elsa whirled to face her, examining her closely as she asked, "Are you okay?"

Anna smiled and said, "I'm fine, Elsa. Really, Katara did a pretty good job in healing me. Just a little leftover soreness, that's all. But jeez, that Azula was a real jerk, wasn't she? Makes you wonder what kind of upbringing she had to turn out like that."

Elsa did wonder at that. Part of her had wanted to take up Sokka's offer to remain and fight to win that war alongside them, if only to have another shot at making Azula pay for what she'd nearly done to Anna, what she'd tried to do. However, she'd meant what she'd said about that not being her own time, but also she didn't want Azula or her father the Firelord to have another crack at Anna, and she could not bear the thought of remaining behind while her sister was sent ahead on this journey, wondering if she'd ever made it back home.

"Well try to take it easy anyway, okay? " Kristoff asked her asked her imploringly, "Not everyone gets to cheat death more than once, and you've done it now twice in less than a year. Let's not push our luck any further than we have to, okay? "

"Aww, but dyeing's so much fun," Anna teased him. When Kristoff didn't crack a smile, and even Elsa looked at Anna in concern, she held her hands up and said, "Sheesh, I was just kidding. I promise I'll be careful. "

"Thank you," Kristoff said gratefully, and Elsa felt herself breathe a sigh of relief. She would have a hard enough time keeping Anna safe with all of the Azula's and Quarrymen in the world trying to get a piece of them without Anna herself seeking out trouble.

Elsa heard the sound of a high pitched shriek behind her, which has punctuated by Anna's gasp of surprise and Kristoff's eyes widening in shock. _What now?_ Elsa thought to herself as she turned around to see what had made that sound and struck Anna and Kristoff speechless. What she saw struck her dumb as well.

Since this journey of theirs began, even before it started, back when an impossible wish to see her parents again came true, Elsa had seen a great number of strange and unusual things: from fairies to living gargoyles to giant, flying bison. This thing she saw landing on the beach below them was a creature of legend! It was an actual dragon! Elsa had heard tales of how their ancestors, the Norse Vikings, had fought such beasts in ages past, and though it wasn't quite as large as those tales made them out to be (though not quite as small as Mushu, the only other dragon Elsa had ever personally seen), this creature matched the description of those tales exactly! This thing was jet black from snout to tail, save for the left side of the fin of said tail, which seemed to have been replaced by a red sail the same shape as the right.

Most notable about the appearance of this creature was the fact that someone appeared to have been riding him, the very person who now was stroking the dragon's head in apparent affection, and though they were too high up to hear him clearly, it seemed from his soft tone of voice that this rider thought of the dragon as a friend. Elsa saw as he removed his helmet, revealing that he was moderately handsome, then watched as he removed something from a pocked on his breeches leg then began pacing back and forth nervously as he started muttering to himself.

"What is he doing?" Elsa wondered aloud in a soft tone, wary of the young man below possibly hearing them. She hated spying on someone like this, but she couldn't risk heading down there to ask him herself. If there's one lesson she and her sister had learned the hard way, it's that a handsome face doesn't necessarily equal a good person. With her sister here she didn't want to take the chance with this one, particularly if his "dragon" turned out to be the real, fire-breathing kind.

"Looks like he's practicing some sort of speech," Kristoff observed, keeping his voice low like Elsa's.

"What is that he's fiddling with?" Anna asked softly.

Before either Kristoff or Elsa could come up with a guess, Elsa took a deep breath and pulled the other two closer to the rock as she spotted the arrival of another dragon-like creature to the island. This one wasn't as swift or as noisy in its approach, and its appearance was different as well: whereas the first one was black and walked on four legs, this one walked on two and was blue and yellow with a white underbelly, as well as having a spiked frill around the base of its head.

This dragon-like creature also had a rider: a blond female whose outfit was notably lined with fur. While the young man's leather armor was rather non-descript as far as nationality goes, the young woman's attire was most definitely Viking, which confused Elsa even more. She'd heard plenty of stories of the Vikings fighting dragons, but never of any of them RIDING them.

Apparently the young man was too deep in his thoughts to notice the arrival of the other rider, for he wound up jumping so badly that he fumbled the object he'd been fiddling with, a small object that glittered gold as it twirled in the air, before he caught it and stowed it back in his pocket before turning to greet his visitor.

"Wait, was that an…?" Kristoff wondered quietly, trailing off before he finished his thought. Of course Elsa didn't really need him to: she pretty much guessed the same thing. If she was correct in her hunch, then the young man's nervousness as he practiced his lines, a nervousness that only seemed to get worse with the arrival of this young woman, made perfect sense.

Still, assuming that she was correct in that these two were Vikings, Elsa felt rather bad for the young man. From what she knew of Viking culture, the women generally preferred to choose to marry (who were able to choose) men who were big and strong: the bigger and stronger, the better. The only young man Elsa had seen scrawnier than this kid was Aang (though Sokka came close). Judging by how nervous this kid was during his practice, Elsa figured he'd be devastated when his proposal was turned down.

Elsa decided that this guy shouldn't have anyone witness his humiliating rejection, and was just about to suggest to the others that they should turn away as he got down on one knee, when the sound of a pair of menacing growls caused the hairs on Elsa's neck to stand straight up. Looking back down, she saw the two dragons were growling in their direction. Elsa didn't know if they had been too noisy in their observations, or if the wind had shifted and carried their scents to the dragons' sensitive noses, but they certainly seemed to know they were there now.

As she made Anna and Kristoff hug the rock beneath them (Sven lying down beside them of his own accord), Elsa was torn between her fight and flight instincts: on one hand, she didn't want to start a fight with these people, who thus far had done nothing to warrant an act of hostility from her. On, the other hand, Elsa figured that if they decided that discretion was the better course of action, then these dragons would likely give chase, and as she'd seen just how fast they were the likelihood that Elsa and her friends would get away was practically nonexistent.

Just as Elsa had decided on a third option, to reveal her presence alone and apologize for eavesdropping, using the opportunity to decide for herself if these people were friend or foe, Elsa noticed that the dragons weren't growling at them after all. While the dragons were indeed facing the stone monolith Elsa and her friends were on, Elsa saw that they were not looking up at them but rather growling at something at its base.

Craning her head for a better view, Elsa saw a menacing figure of a man make his way around their rocky outcropping and into the sight of the two riders who drew their weapons: the young woman hefting a Viking battle axe, while the young man wielded a flaming sword in one hand and a rounded shield on the other arm. From the way he was holding it, Elsa could not see much of the shield's front beyond a small portion of the edge, but even though there seemed to be nothing about the sword or shield's design that appeared Viking-made to Elsa, she still felt that she'd seen that shield somewhere before…

Just as Elsa felt that the situation couldn't get anymore tense, a huge leviathan rose from the sea behind the larger man, and while the two dragons from earlier were smaller than the tales related, this thing was much too BIG! The size of a small mountain, this thing was an off-white color that was almost grey, had more spines than Elsa could count coming off its face and back, and had an iron manacle attached to its one intact tusk (the other one apparently broken off somehow).

With how huge this thing was, Elsa didn't understand why it didn't spot her and her friends up here, but then figured that its attention was drawn to those on the beach. In fact, the huge white dragon and the much smaller black one seemed to only have baleful eyes for each other, just as the aggressive stances and tones of voices exchanged between the two riders and this large newcomer made it clear to Elsa that there was no love lost between them either.

As the young woman twirled her axe in her grip, the mountain of a man swung his hooked spear over his head as he bellowed wordlessly. At first Elsa thought that he was using some sort of battle cry, but then Elsa noticed a brightly glowing blue streak speeding towards the island. At first Elsa thought it was some sort of long-range attack, but then the streak stopped abruptly in front of the young woman and her dragon as the lady clearly shouted, "Flightmare!" and Elsa could see that the glow was from yet another dragon around the size of the black one. Then this newest dragon exhaled its misty breath on the young lady and her dragon, speeding away again just as the black dragon fired its pulse-like blast at it. When the mist cleared, Elsa saw that neither the girl nor her dragon were moving an inch.

_Why that slimy, no-good, cowardly…!_ Elsa thought furiously as she started to push herself up from the rock before Kristoff pulled her back down again. When she turned her glare on him, Kristoff returned it to her as he hissed, "No offence, your Highness, but what do you think you're doing?"

"I'm going to teach that man a lesson!" Elsa hissed back at him.

"And how do you think that will help them?" Kristoff retorted, then after glancing down at the ground again he pointed and whispered, "There, look!"

Elsa did and saw as the young man walked over to his dragon and did something to the saddle that apparently locked the tail-sail thing in place before the ebony dragon took off to confront the ivory monster. Then she watched as the young man carefully laid the young lady down, her arms and legs remaining in the exact same positions as they were when she was standing. _So, not dead, then,_ Elsa thought with relief, _just frozen, or paralyzed._ "Yeah, I see," Elsa whispered impatiently, every fiber in her being itching to help, "So?"

"So do you think that getting involved would help anything? Would help them?" Kristoff reasoned with her, "That big oaf most likely had that glowy dragon use his breath to paralyze the girl and her dragon in order to force the kid into a one-on-one fight because he believed he stood no chance if they fought together. Probably is holding the girl's life ransom as well to ensure that they don't work together. If we butt in, then he'll likely turn his blade on the girl. I know that you're powerful enough to take the big jerk without much effort, but can you handle him AND his big monster together? Could you ensure that neither of them harm the girl until the paralysis wears off, if it does?"

Elsa didn't have an answer for that. Though she knew he wasn't lying per-se, Elsa heard the false note in Kristoff's voice, and after watching the giant dragon amazingly breathe ice rather than the fire she'd been expecting, her mind connected the dots and surmised what it was Kristoff wasn't saying aloud in the presence of her sister. _He's concerned about Anna's safety,_ Elsa thought to herself, _thinking about what had happened to us when I chose to get involved with the Quarrymen's business back in New York, and how close we all came to losing her at our last stop. _Elsa badly wanted to help these kids, but she too was concerned about keeping Anna safe until they made it back home, and she could not deny that it may be rather difficult to shield the kids from the man and his dragon should they decide to team up. So even though it felt as though her veins were crackling with the power she was holding back, Elsa settled back onto the rock as she watched the two battles unfold.

For such a scrawny young man who had no apparent powers, the kid was admittedly not a bad fighter. However, once the giant of a man managed to knock the sword from the boy's grip the battle took a turn for the worse, the man punishing him with savage blows from his head and fists. Then the man picked back up his own weapon and set the girl upright again as he began a monologue Elsa couldn't quite hear while the boy was crumpled in pain on the ground. After the boy said something in response as he slowly got back on his feet, the man said one last thing to the boy before he turned to the dragon, pointing his weapon at the kids as he bellowed, "Finish them!"

Elsa could not hold herself back anymore. Lurching to her feet (Anna, Kristoff and Sven a half step in following her up), Elsa fired a powerful ice blast at the ground as the boy desperately fried to protect the girl from the ivory giant's avalanche-like breath. For a moment, All Elsa could see of the ground below was the flow of the dragon's breath over it, the cruel man just out of its range. Then, as the dragon ceased its assault, Elsa saw that her blast had struck in time, creating a large ice stalactite that parted the ice breath and prevented it from enveloping the kids and their allied dragon as the paralysis wore off on it and the girl.

After the man exclaimed in surprise and anger, and the girl directed the boy's gaze so that he was looking directly at them, Elsa drew herself to her full height as she glared down at the man. "I'm sorry guys," Elsa apologized softly to Anna and Kristoff, then she raised her voice to a normal tone as she continued, "but I really despise bullies."

"It's okay," Anna assured her before Kristoff could say anything, "I would have asked you to help them anyway if you hadn't beaten me to the punch."

Elsa wasn't sure what Kristoff had been about to say, but it apparently was lost on his tongue as his mouth hung open for a moment. Then he closed it and had a look of resignation in his eyes as he smiled ruefully and said, "Yeah, it's cool. Cat's out of the bag anyway, so we might as well go along with it."

Elsa nodded, then she created an ice slide with a safety rail that wound its way around the rocky monolith they were on, forming her ice glider in her hand as she said, "You guys do what you can for those kids, I'll handle the ice dragon." As Anna and Kristoff nodded in acknowledgement, Elsa gripped her glider and ran towards the cliff-like edge, firing one last blast at the ground directly below her before she soared towards the giant beast.

* * *

Hiccup wasn't entirely sure what he was looking at. Part of him though that he might have simply been seeing things (Drago certainly had clocked him hard enough for it to be possible.) The only problem with that theory was that Astrid seemed to be seeing the same things as him. The question that remained then was what was he looking at?

It seemed impossible to him that any human could wield power on par with a Bewilderbeast, much less use it with the skill and precision this woman displayed. His first thought was that she might be one of the frost giants, though he just as quickly dismissed that thought. For one, while she was certainly taller than the other girl with her (and, from what he could tell, taller than most of the women he himself had met in his life) she didn't seem taller than the male companion with her on the rocky monolith, let alone tall enough to be a jotun. Another thing that detracted from the possibility of her being a jotun was that she had clearly helped them. All the tales of the frost giants depicted them as beings who were intent on conquest of these lands, who viewed humans as either slaves or minor obstacles to be squashed, and neither Hiccup nor his father would have been born if Odin and the other gods of Asgard hadn't fought to defend this realm of Midgard. If this woman was in fact one of the Jotnar then she was decidedly different than any of her ilk depicted in the old tales.

Jotun or not, Hiccup could not deny that there was something different about this woman, for as he watched an ice slanted platform of sorts, almost like the things hiccup had created to move water onto the fires inadvertently set by the resident dragons, was created and wound around the rocky protrusion, the woman leapt off it with some sort of winged ice stick in hand, releasing what appeared to be another ice blast from her other hand at the ground before she gripped the stick thing with both hands and started flying. Apparently, this winged stick functioned similarly to his glider suit, but there was a world of difference between the simple gliding he'd been able to manage and the graceful flight of this woman.

"Get her!" Drago bellowed as he jabbed his hook-spear in the direction of the flying woman in the blue dress. The Bewilderbeast, responding to his master's command, raised its head and unleashed an ice blast in the woman's direction. Hiccup was surprised at this young woman's reaction as he personally had experienced the terrifying power of the Bewilderbeast firsthand, and even his mother, who had lived alongside a different Bewilderbeast for years and had even greater knowledge of dragons than he did, even she had been forced to retreat when Drago ordered his great dragon to attack her.

It seemed that Toothless was experiencing the same shock as he was hovering in place and watching as the young woman continued her aggressive approach, looping tightly around the Alpha's arctic breath as though she had nothing to fear from it before she released her glider and landed agilely on his intact tusk. Then she raced along it at incredible speed, sometimes running at such an angle that Hiccup at first wasn't sure how she managed to avoid falling off into the ocean below, that is until he noticed that she was creating a handrail of ice before her that she held onto, the same creation that dissolved into snow and mist behind her, and though it was difficult to tell from this distance it appeared to him that her feet also left a trail of ice behind her.

When the Alpha realized its target was on it, it shook its head to try to throw her off. However, the woman used the momentum of the movement to launch herself high into the air, unleashing a pair of ice blasts from her hands into the Bewilderbeast's face, then she gripped her ice glider as it swooped within her range again and flew around the giant dragon's left side as it roared in pain.

The roar snapped Toothless out of his inaction and he quickly joined the woman in her dangerous orbit, the pair of them diving and climbing as they dodged the Bewilderbeast's furious blasts as it turned in place trying to hit them. Just as Hiccup cam to the conclusion that he and Astrid should climb onto Stormfly to help them out, he felt a tremendous tremor under his feet, followed shortly by another. He and Astrid turned towards the sound and their mouths fell open. Now _that_ was a Jotun! Granted that he had never seen one before, nor had any Viking in the last century as far as he knew, but there was nothing else that it could be! A gigantic humanoid creature of ice and snow, it nearly blocked the stone monolith behind it from view as it plodded its way towards the Bewilderbeast, but the dragon seemed too intent on its pursuit of the woman and his Night Fury to notice its approach.

With that observation, all the pieces fell into place. Now Hiccup understood why the woman was so aggressive in her approach and is now taking a more defensive maneuver: she was getting the dragon's attention! While this Jotun, who seemed to appear out of nowhere, certainly seemed to be powerful, it was also definitely rather slow, and while it was about as tall as the Bewilderbeast when it stood an all fours, the Alpha had much more heft to it. If the Jotun tried to take the Alpha head on it would have been blasted by ice breath before it even got close, that is if the Bewilderbeast didn't just gore it with its single tusk or rear up and smash it underfoot instead. By distracting it beforehand, the woman gave the Jotun the opportunity to get close, where its power could do some good. Then Hiccup recalled the ice blast the woman unleashed before engaging the Bewilderbeast. She must have done that to summon the Jotun here. Could it be that she's their Queen? Is it only the warriors of the Jotnar that were giants of ice?

"No, NO, _NO!_" Drago exclaimed in disbelief and fury, apparently coming to the realization that his well planned ambush was falling apart. Rather than going to the aid of his dragon, however, Drago glared at Hiccup in hate and fury as he swung his hook-spear at him. Hiccup was ready for the blow, however, and he blocked it with his shield as Astrid rolled towards his sword and threw it back towards him. Then Hiccup reignited his blade as Astrid hefted her axe, and the battle was rejoined anew.

* * *

As Elsa and the black dragon circled around the huge white one and dodged the attacks it unleashed, she saw that her tactic was working. She knew that the one attack she'd unleashed on it would not cause it any lasting harm, but the pain it caused had enraged it enough that its entire focus was on her. It was so intent on bringing her down that it was ignoring the approach of the largest Marshmallow she'd created yet. Of course she hadn't counted on the black dragon joining her in this plan, but she found its involvement an unexpected blessing. The potshots it used on its larger earthbound brethren kept it enraged enough to continue trying to attack them, allowing Marshmallow to get closer and closer unopposed.

Of course she saw as the larger man once again attacked the smaller one, but Elsa would have to deal with this larger problem before she could help him. Besides, the one boy's girlfriend was no longer paralyzed, and from what Elsa could see her combat skills were not to be dismissed, not to mention Anna and Kristoff were now about halfway down the ice slide and would be able to provide further aid (though Elsa hoped to send this big dragon packing before it came to that).

Elsa completed her circuit just as Marshmallow came within arm's reach of the great beast. Elsa then swooped over Marshmallow's incoming right hook while the black dragon swooped under it, the pair of them managing to make it past his elbow just as his blow landed on the side of the circling beast's head. Elsa had never before encountered living creatures of such tremendous size, let alone imagined that she'd be so close to a pair of them battling, but the force of Marshmallow's blow was so great that it nearly disrupted Elsa's control over the winds that was keeping her aloft. Since she figured that the distraction phase of her plan was over now anyways, and she was not looking forward to a swim right now, Elsa released her glider once again and released a double ice blast into the ocean below, causing an ice pillar with a wide, flat top surface to rise up and catch her before she could fall too far. Then as Marshmallow continued raining hammer blows on the giant dragon, Elsa aided him by hitting it with one ice blast after another on the exposed part she could see. Apparently the black dragon took this change of tactics as an unspoken invitation, as it landed beside her and joined in by pummeling the great beast with its own powerful blasts. It wasn't long before the giant dragon decided it had enough and it turned to retreat beneath the waves.

With the larger threat gone, Elsa then turned her attention towards aiding the young couple against the big brute who'd started this whole thing. Since her ice glider had fallen into the ocean while she was busy driving off the huge dragon, Elsa prepared herself to create another, but she was distracted by a questioning groan from the dragon beside her. Looking over, she saw it look at her, then down at the island below them, then back at her, lowering its head as it did so.

"You want me to ride you?" Elsa asked the black dragon. In response it looked back at the island and lowered its head, keeping still as it did so. Elsa swallowed past the lump in her throat, feeling more nervous about this than she had been about confronting a beast large enough to swallow her whole. The last time she'd ridden aboard a live animal was just after her sister's accident, when she rode on a horse in front of her father as they raced alongside her mom and sister to the Valley of Living Stones to save her sister's life. Since then she'd stayed almost entirely indoors, and even after her isolation ended she mostly relied on self-transportation and the occasional ride in Kristoff's sleigh (the ride aboard the Jolly Roger was not one of her choosing). Still, time was of the essence, and this creature seemed friendly enough, so she steeled herself and gingerly set herself astride the dragon's back, altering her outfit to one that was more appropriate for this style of riding as she did so, then she gripped the handle grips before her as the dragon gave a mighty flap and soared back towards the island below.

* * *

As they landed on the island, Elsa dismounted and the black dragon took an aggressive stance as it growled at the larger man even as Anna, Kristoff and Sven raced to her position. Also it appeared as though the blue dragon had been wanting to help her master out but had been afraid that she might hurt her in the process. However, now that the man was backing away from the growing number of opponents, the blue dragon's formerly smooth tail was bristling with spikes and she had it raised threateningly, apparently waiting for him to make one wrong move.

"Give it up," Elsa told him in a commanding voice, "Your great beast has fled and you're outnumbered. It's over."

For a moment the big man glared at her with more hate than she'd ever seen in anyone's eyes. Then he glanced past her for a second and met her gaze as one corner of his mouth pulled up in a smile as he confidently asked, "Is it now?"

The way he smiled and asked that did not set well with Elsa, so she turned and saw the bright glare of the paralyzing dragon racing back towards them. Elsa raised her hands and reached inside herself for the power to erect an ice wall to block the dragon's breath attack, but before she could create it the dragon quickly slowed to a stop, hovering in place as its head cocked to one side in apparent confusion. Elsa was likewise confused as to why this dragon would suddenly stop in its attack, then she looked at her hands and noticed the cold gathered around them was causing the damp air around them to turn to mist much like the dragon's breath, and the light filtering through the mist reflected off her outfit and made it appear as though it was glowing much like the dragon hovering before her.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw the large man's face fall again in disbelief for a moment, then he snarled and bellowed as he swung his weapon overhead a couple of times before jamming the point into the ground. Like a well trained dog, the glowing dragon flew over to him and landed by his side for him to climb on its back. Then he let his baleful gaze pass over the group gathering before him, his eyes boring holes in Elsa's for a moment before he fixed his gaze on the young man who Elsa had come to the aid of and said, "Bear this in mind, boy! Twice now we have met in battle, and both times you have needed help in defeating me. It takes strength to rule, and that is something in which you are sorely lacking. When next we meet it'll be at Berk with my entire force behind me, and at that time I will destroy everything and everyone you love! Count on it, boy!"

Though she kept her gaze fixed on the brute, Elsa could have sworn that his dragon was staring at her with some sort of longing. Regardless, at the man's command the dragon lifted up from the ground and took off, quickly vanishing from sight. Elsa thought the young man had looked troubled by what their attacker had said, but once it was clear that they were gone and not coming back he took a deep breath and turned to Elsa and said, "Thank you. If you folks hadn't come along when you had…"

"It was nothing, really," Elsa told them, "We couldn't exactly see something like that happening and stand by doing nothing."

The young man smiled and nodded as he said, "My name is Hiccup, Chieftain of Berk, and you've already become acquainted with Toothless, my Night Fury, and this is Astrid and her Deadly Nadder, Stormfly."

Elsa was somewhat mystified at this revelation, considering that she thought these people were Vikings. From what she knew of her ancestors, the Vikings highly valued strength, and those in charge were usually the strongest of the lot. This kid was as far removed from that image that she could get. Then again, she had never heard of Vikings riding or commanding dragons. Regardless, Elsa returned his smile and said, "Nice to meet you. I am Elsa, Queen of Arendelle, this is my sister Anna, her boyfriend Kristoff, and this big guy is Sven."

Hiccup and Astrid looked at each other before Hiccup asked her, "Arendelle? Is that a province in Jotunhelm?"

Elsa didn't understand this reference, so she asked politely, "I'm sorry?"

"Jotunhelm? Realm of the Jotnar?" Hiccup clarified. When Elsa and her friends still looked clueless, Hiccup clarified further, "The frost giants?"

Those Elsa had heard of, and Elsa groaned internally that she would be associated with them by someone who may be her own ancestor. "No, we're not from Jotunhelm," Elsa assured them.

Hiccup nodded like he agreed, saying in a thoughtful tone, "I thought that your mannerisms were odd to be one of those Thor and his fellow Asgardians defended our realm from."

"Perhaps that's it," Astrid suggested, "Maybe they're from Asgard, like your shield."

At that mention, Elsa got a good look at Hiccup's shield for the first time and her breath caught. She _had_ seen that shield before, in the memories Julian had shown her from his time in New York! It was wielded by the soldier who fought alongside the powerful green giant and the man in the flying armored suit! This only served to confuse Elsa further, as that was an event from the future and they were supposed to be in the distant past. How did _that_ get back _here? _ "No, I'm not from Asgard either," Elsa told them, "Nor do I think that shield is either. It's hard to explain, but it's enough to say that we're currently a long way from home. We were trying to make our way back when we came across you guys."

"You know something about my shield?" Hiccup asked her, his interest peaked, "My father, Stoick the Vast, former Chief of Berk, had found it on a battlefield and it survived one of Toothless' plasma blasts point blank! What can you tell me…?"

"Sorry to interrupt, but I don't think that this is the best place to have this conversation," Kristoff told them earnestly, "especially if that creep manages to locate his huge beast and come back this way."

"I agree," Astrid said, "plus we really need to get back to Berk and warn everyone of Drago's attack."

Hiccup nodded, then he looked around at everyone and their own dragons as he said thoughtfully, "There isn't really any way that our dragons could carry all of you, so we'd have to get someone back home to bring a ship back home for all of you. Of course I suppose you could get your Jotun to carry all of you instead, but he's kind of slow to be following us, and as big as he is the ocean gets to be rather deep between here and Berk…"

"No, I agree. There's no way that Marshmallow could carry us to where you're going," Elsa said with a small smile, reflecting on a similar problem they'd encountered at their previous stop and how they'd worked it out, "but If you can lead the way, I have another idea…"

* * *

The two dragons and their riders flew low over the ocean, and closely behind them Sven ran over a rapidly forming ice bridge pulling an ice sleigh with Elsa, Anna, and Kristoff riding inside. As they neared a craggy island, Elsa saw colorful buildings arranged on the side facing them.

"Is that…?" Elsa said as she pointed ahead of them with the hand that wasn't creating the bridge.

"Yes," Hiccup confirmed as they drew nearer to the stone sentries guarding the harbor, "That is Berk, our home."


	3. Chapter 3: Turmoil

**Turmoil**

Valka smiled endearingly at her husband who had resumed his pacing. Of course she had born witness to him losing his composure before, earlier in the house being a prime example. However, Stoick coming unglued here, at the edge of the village in full view of everyone, was quite unlike him. Of course if Stoick had been as stoic in private as he normally appeared in public Valka probably wouldn't have married him in the first place, even if that was what their parents wanted.

"Just relax, love," Valka gently told him, "So Hiccup is a little late in getting back, that doesn't mean anything's wrong."

"You don't understand, Valka. It's not like Hiccup to be late like this," Stoic told her, then he amended him self and said, "Actually it's totally like him, but not when he has Astrid with him. She's one of the most responsible people in the village, and Hiccup has never been late for a village meeting since he's become Chieftain." Stoic then turned towards the young riders and asked, "Are you sure that Astrid said that she was going to meet him?"

"Absolutely, Chief!" Snotlout said with certainty, then as he realized his mistake he uncertainly amended, "…I mean sir….uh, actually…"

Ruffnut elbows him out of the way and says, "What Snotlout is trying to say is that he and I had arrived to the pens to check on our dragons this morning when we found Astrid there ahead of us, Stormfly already saddled up. She said she was going to meet Hiccup, though she wouldn't say where, then she took off."

"Then where is he?" Stoic asked in agitated concern, "They should have been back by now!"

"Maybe they just wanted to take their time in getting back," Valka suggested, "They likely wanted to enjoy the bliss of the moment and forestall everyone bombarding them with questions on how it went. I'm sure that the whole village saw them becoming a couple for a long time now."

"You're right there, Ma'am," Fishlegs agreed, "I saw it clear back when we were still training to kill dragons, though I never said it aloud for fear that Astrid would kill me if I did."

"Look!" one villager cried out as she pointed, "There they are now!"

Valka strained her eyes in the direction the villager indicated as the others did the same, Fishlegs pulling out his spyglass for a better view. Valka was able to definitely make out the unique profile of her son and his dragon, as well as the one she identified as belonging to Astrid. Curiously, Valka saw that they were flying close to the water and neither was approaching very quickly, and Valka was well familiar with how quickly both could move (especially Toothless). Even more curiously was the patch of fog practically right below them, in which Valka though she saw something moving.

"They don't seem to be moving very fast," Valka commented, feeling a bit apprehensive herself now.

"Perhaps you were right after all, my love, and they were just taking their time to draw out their private moment before it became very public," Stoick assured her in return.

"I don't think so," Fishlegs countered, his voice heavy with concern, "Hiccup looks as though he's been hurt pretty badly."

"What!?" Stoick snapped as he snatched Fishlegs' looking glass away from him and placed it to his own eye, and it was all Valka could do to restrain herself from taking it from him for herself.

"What about Astrid?" Astrid's father asked Fishlegs in concern, "Was she hurt?"

"Not that I could see, sir," Fishlegs answered him, "But there's more: they aren't alone."

"By Odin's beard!" Stoick whispered in dumbfounded confusion, "What is that?"

Now Valka's agitation got the better of her, and she took the looking glass from Stoic so she could see. From the way he held himself on Toothless, it was immediately apparent that he was hurt, and since he wasn't wearing his helmet Valka could see the bruises that were appearing on his face, which looked too large to have been caused by Astrid. As much as she was concerned about her son, however, Valka was curious about the other things Fishlegs mentioned. After a quick glance at Astrid (who, thankfully, did appear unharmed), Valka focused the glass on the fog below, then she took a deep breath at what she saw. The fog was actually being caused by pillars of ice forming in midair and plunging into the warm sea below. Even stranger was that the ice pillars were supporting a bridge made of ice, across which raced a sleigh of ice pulled by a single reindeer. While there seemed to be a man wearing a simple attire holding the reindeer's reins and a young woman riding in the back, it was the slightly older woman in the seat by the male driver who had Valka's attention, for it seemed that it was from her that the ice bridge seemed to be coming from. As they got closer, Valka could see that snow was pouring from her hand and forming into the bridge shape in front of her, hardening into ice before the reindeer's hooves touched down on it. What it meant Valka was unsure and was even more hesitant to say aloud, for even though the Jotun were the only ones she knew that had such power this woman did not appear to be one of them, and she doubted that Hiccup would lead one of their ancient enemies to them even under threat of force.

"What is it, Valka?" her old childhood friend Hilda asked, "What do you see?"

Valka could not find any way to avoid answering, so she told them. She avoided voicing the conclusions she'd drawn, but it apparently didn't matter as fearful whispers of "Jotun" and "frost giants" broke out around her.

"Are we being invaded?"  
"They've been gone for hundreds of years, why have they returned now?"  
"Have we displeased Odin in some way? Is that why they've been allowed to return?"  
"Where is Thor when you need him?"  
"Were they the ones who hurt Chief Hiccup?"

"Please, everyone!" Stoick called out, "I want the answers to these questions as much as you do. Now it looks as though they'll be arriving at the pier, so if you'll follow me we'll get our answers together. Nobody hurts my son and gets away with it!"

Stoick then turns and walks to the path leading to the pier, with the rest of the village following him murmuring in angry voices before Valka could come up with something to say to stop them.

* * *

Anna felt the vibrations in the sleigh change slightly as it transitioned from the ice bridge onto the wooden pier. Then she heard the cracks and splashed as the bridge was finally allowed to break up and dissolve into the ocean, and the ice sleigh melted as it followed the bridge into oblivion. Anna, however, wished that she still had a seat to hide behind as she saw a bunch of Viking villagers heading their way, all of them looking rather angry.

"Um, Chief Hiccup?" Anna said uneasily as she gripped her frying pan in her clammy hands, "I don't think that your friends are too happy to see us."

"Don't worry, Princess," Hiccup assured her as he dismounted his dragon, who had landed on a moored ship beside them, "I'll handle this."

Hiccup then hopped over onto the pier along with Astrid, placing themselves in the path of the advancing crowd as he said, "Everyone calm down. It's all right, these people…"

A man, who had to be the largest one of the group, kneeled down and gently placed both hands on Hiccup's shoulders as he asked in a concerned voice, "Are you okay, son? Did these people hurt you too badly?"

"No, Dad, I'll be okay," Hiccup assured him, "but these people…"

"That's good, son," Hiccup's dad interrupted as he stood again, removing a double-headed battle axe from his back as he nudged Hiccup out of the way and began advancing forward again, saying, "Now why don't you go rest up at the great hall for a bit. We'll take it from here."

"No. Wait, Dad, you don't understand!" Hiccup said as he unsuccessfully tried to restrain him, "These guys…!"

"Look! That one has been twice-struck by Thor!" one other villager cried out, and Anna saw that he was pointing directly at her, "They're enemies of the gods! We have to stop them!"

Anna looked down and realized that she was still wearing the dress she had on when Azula blasted her with lightning. _Great!_ Anna thought to herself, mentally rolling her eyes, _**I'm** the reason these people are so worked up! Now I know just how Elsa felt after I pushed her to accidentally reveal her powers at the coronation party._

Before Anna could come up with anything to say or she could decide to make a break for it, although the only way clear was the ocean behind her, Elsa faced the crowd as she stepped directly between them and her. Anna felt the air around her drop several degrees and saw frost start to form on the pier beneath her as Elsa growled, "Listen, you bunch of ignorant barbarians! We've never met your gods and it certainly wasn't your precious Thor who hurt Anna! It was a power hungry princess who happened to be one stone block short of a castle! Anna's been through enough, and if any of you want to lay one finger on her you'll have to go through me."

Kristoff strode forward to stand beside Elsa, hefting his climbing pick in silent agreement. As the crowd started forward again, Anna was afraid they were going to take Elsa up on her challenge. However, Hiccup dashed out in front of them again, looking back and forth between the villagers and Elsa as he pleaded, "Stop! Everyone calm down, please! These people aren't our enemies, and they weren't the ones who hurt me. It was Drago."

"Drago?" Hiccup's father asked him, stopping at the mention of the name and looking Hiccup in the eyes as the angry mob stopped with him, "Drago Bludvist?"

"Yes, dad. He's back, and from what I've seen he's been rebuilding his dragon army," Hiccup confirmed, "He's already got himself a Flightmare, which he used to paralyze Astrid. He threated to hurt her if I did not duel him one-on-one, without Toothless. I had no choice but to agree. I'm sorry, Dad, but he was too big and strong for me. I know her powers may seem strange, but if it wasn't for Queen Elsa' intervention Astrid and I would have perished in the frigid breath of Drago's Bewilderbeast. Now he's preparing to attack Berk itself."

At that declaration, a slender, dark haired woman who looked about the same age as Elsa's mom finally fought her way to the front of the crowd, then she looked Elsa in the eye as she said, "Is that true, child! Did you really save my son?"

Elsa drew herself up regally, and Anna noticed that her voice had lost the angry edge it had as she replied, "Yes, milady. Everything your son said was true."

Hiccup's mom strode forward with the same grace as she said, "I know not what land or realm you strangers hail from, but you have my gratitude all the same." Then, so quickly that it took everyone by surprise, Hiccup's mom drew Elsa into an embrace as she whispered, "Thank you."

"Y-you're welcome," Elsa stammered, apparently caught off guard by this public display, then she pulled away as she added, "but as your son said, this is far from over."

Hiccup's mom still smiled gratefully even as she nodded her understanding. His dad echoed his wife's response as he said, "Of course, and I'm sorry about the misunderstanding and I thank you as well." After Elsa nodded her acknowledgement and acceptance, Hiccup's dad turned towards his son and asked, "Well, what should we do?"

"Me?" Hiccup asked in confusion.

"You are still the Chieftain of Berk, what's happened hasn't changed that," Hiccup's dad told him, "While I can advise you on a course of action, the decision to take that course or go another is entirely up to you."

Hiccup closed his eyes as he took a steadying breath, then he looked at his father and said, "We should begin by fortifying the island. It won't make much of a difference when Drago brings his Bewilderbeast into the fight, but it should buy us time against his men and other dragons."

Hiccup's dad nodded his understanding, then he turned his head towards the crowd behind him and hollered, "What are you waiting around for? You heard your chief, get to it!"

"We'll also need to get ready the saddles of those riders who'll be riding into battle, make sure they'll be good for the rough use to come," Hiccup added, "And since we know that Drago has a Flightmare at his beck and call, it would help if everyone who's fighting has a set of full body armor, reduce the chances they'll be affected by the Flightmare's paralyzing breath."

"Of course," Hiccup's dad acknowledged, then he turned towards a man with a peg leg who did not leave with the others and said, "Gobber?"

"On it, Stoick," the one-legged man acknowledged, then he hobbled a bit forwards towards Kristoff, eyeing the pick he still held loosely in his hands as he asked, "You weren't really going to challenge us with that wee thing, were you lad?"

Kristoff glanced down at his pick briefly as he replied in confusion, "It's always served me well before."

Gobber guffawed once as he said, "Clearly you've never fought against Vikings before, we'd use something like that to pick our teeth. Why don't you stop by my shop in a bit, I'll let you pick out a better weapon to use." Then, without waiting for an answer, Gobber hobbled off.

Hiccup faced his father as he continued, "I'll need to go somewhere quiet while I think of what other preparations need to be made."

Stoick nodded his understanding and gestured towards the largest building (short of what appeared to be the dragons' aerie) in the center of town. Astrid, however, caught up to him, placing a gentle restraining hand on his shoulder as she said, "Hiccup, wait."

Hiccup turned to look at Astrid, and Anna thought she recognized the look in Hiccup's eyes. It appeared to be the same look she'd seen many times in the eyes of her sister. For the first few weeks after the events following the coronation it was all that she saw whenever Elsa looked at her, and she'd seen that same look in her eyes once again as Elsa had examined her wounds before Drago had shown up with his dragon.

Before she could figure out what it meant, Hiccup's expression cleared as he smiled a painful looking smile and said, "It's okay, Astrid. I need time to think, so why don't help our friends get prepared?" Then Hiccup turned back to continue on his way. As Hiccup climbed up the steps to the village proper, Anna heard Astrid talk in a voice so low she wasn't sure Hiccup had heard, but Anna clearly heard the anger and hurt in Astrid's voice as she said, "As you say, Chief." Then Astrid stormed off towards the stairs as well, altering her course at the top to head for the dragon aerie instead.

"Oh dear," Hiccup's mom murmured fretfully as she looked at Stoick.

Anna then saw Elsa and Kristoff share a significant glance with one another as Elsa said, "You go to talk to that girl Astrid…"

"…while you discuss matters with young Chief Hiccup," Kristoff finished for her as he nodded his agreement.

As they both turned towards the stairs, Anna called out to them asking, "What should I do?"

As Elsa turned towards Anna she saw that same look in her eyes again, and she was starting to really hate, HATE that look, then Elsa said, "Why don't you take Sven somewhere he can get something to eat, Anna, then maybe you can help out Stoick and the others?"

When Elsa and Kristoff turned back and continued on their way, Anna felt her blood rising. Stoick gave her a sympathetic look as he said, "Come, my dear, we could use your help giving Gobber a hand with the saddles."

"Anna, is it?" Hiccup's mom asked with a smile, holding out her hand, "My name is Valka. A pleasure to meet you. While we help out my husband you can tell us all about yourself." Then Valka took Anna's hand in her own and followed Stoick into the village.

* * *

As Elsa entered the Great Hall, she saw Hiccup picking up a helmet from a table next to a large throne-like chair. From the large curved horns that stuck out from either side, Elsa guessed that it must be the Viking equivalent of a crown, and judging by the portraits arranged around the hall (including the one showing Hiccup standing beside his dad, who was wearing that very helmet) that appeared to be the case. However, it looked as though this helmet was to big and heavy for Hiccup to wear himself, and that seemed to be the case as he sighed and set it back down where it was.

"Pretty heavy, isn't it?" Elsa commented, and she felt slightly guilty as Hiccup jumped in startlement. After his breathing settled, Hiccup chuckled slightly as he said, "Yeah, well it was made for my dad back when he was chieftain, and while I'm sure he'd intended for me to wear it when I came of age, I simply had never managed to develop the muscle mass to do so. While I suppose I could have requested one to be made that was more my size, I simply never felt the need to do so. I guess if I were to wear any headgear I'd prefer it to be more functional, like the one I use when riding Toothless."

"I think I can relate to that," Elsa told him, "I haven't worn my tiara since the day of my coronation, I'm not even sure where it is right now. However, I wasn't referring to just the helmet itself, but to the burden of responsibilities that comes with it. The need to keep the peace amongst your people, the necessity to shield them from outside threats, to feed and protect your friends and loved ones. Even without wearing a bulky crown or a heavy cape, it can still feel like the weight of the world is on your shoulders."

"Yes, it can," Hiccup sighed as he ran his finger around the outline of the helmet, then he turned towards Elsa as he asked, "You didn't just come here to compare the burdens of being a Queen with those of a Chieftain, did you?"

"No, I didn't," Elsa confirmed, "I actually came here to talk about Astrid."

* * *

When Kristoff located Astrid in a building located just off the aerie, which was apparently designed for combat training, he found her furiously hacking at a straw dummy (which Kristoff noticed had a paper with a crudely drawn face of that Drago character affixed to the head) with a battle axe while four equally young Vikings watched. Two of them, one a stout yet buff young man and the other larger and rotund, were looking at Astrid as if they were afraid of her. The other two were a male and female, who were both equally tall and gangly (and due to their similar appearance were likely fraternal twins), were watching Astrid with fascination: the way one might watch a lion rip apart a deer, knowing full well it might turn at any moment to rip into you.

"You know, I think that Astrid is scarier now than she ever was during Dragon Training," the rotund young man commented fretfully, to which the stout man nodded mutely in agreement.

"Yeah, isn't it great!" the male twin agreed, "You know, I'm kinda glad now that you guys had fixated on Ruffnut instead of Astrid. Now if Astrid and Hiccup have called it quits…"

"Don't you guys have some preparations to get started on!?" Astrid barked as she fixed her glare on the four of them, causing them to mutter apologies as they headed off through a door on the opposite side of the room. Astrid then hefted her axe and took off the dummy's head with a single blow.

"Wow, I wouldn't want to be_ that_ guy," Kristoff commented softly. At the sound of his voice, Astrid bellows as she whirls and hurls her weapon his way, the axe imbedding itself in the wall mere inches away from his head. "Nice aim," Kristoff gulped as he stared at his reflection on the axe head with wide eyes.

"Oh, it's you!" Astrid said in surprise, then she strode over to retrieve her axe, her voice losing some but not all of the angry edge as she said apologetically, "Sorry about that, but as you can see this isn't a good time."

"No, it's all right. I can tell that you have a lot of frustration to work off, and that what happened on the island is at the root of it," Kristoff told her as he walked over to retrieve the dummy's head, "Actually, I was hoping that I could join you."

"I'm sorry, but I had just met you," Astrid said to him in irritated disbelief, "How can you possibly claim to know what I'm feeling?"

As Kristoff set the head back into place, he saw in his mind's eye the dummy morph into the three young women who attacked Anna, Elsa and himself, then he started pummel it with savage body blows as he told Astrid, "That's because just moments before I met you I _was_ you. I know how it feels to be rendered helpless to protect the one you care deeply for."

* * *

"What about Astrid?" Hiccup asked Elsa.

"Well, for starters, I know that you were about to propose to her before that creep Drago interrupted," Elsa told him.

"How did you know that?" Hiccup asked her in confusion, "I didn't even tell anyone here the reason for my outing."

"We arrived at that Island while you were waiting for Astrid," Elsa explained, "We weren't close enough to overhear most of what you were saying, but some gestures are apparently as old as time. Anyway, when that man Drago started attacking you I wanted to intervene then, but my sister's boyfriend Kristoff convinced me that he might have turned his weapon on Astrid if I did."

"Don't worry, it was good you didn't take that chance, and I'm glad you stepped in when you had," Hiccup assured her.

"Thanks for that," Elsa said, "But back to my original point, I saw that Astrid wanted to help you earlier at the pier, but instead you sent her off on an errand that I think anyone else here could have likely done as easily. I'm guessing that what Drago said to you on that island got to you, about you being unable to protect Astrid."

"What if he's right, though?" Hiccup asked her, "I wasn't strong enough to beat him, and I _was_ unable to protect Astrid when it mattered most. Maybe I shouldn't have accepted Berk's chieftainship from my father, and maybe it'd be best if I let Astrid go, so she can be with someone who _can_ protect her."

"I'm sorry, Hiccup, but that's wrong," Elsa told him. "The only mistake you made was letting Drago bait you into matching him in a contest of strength, as there was no chance you could win that way and he knew it. I'm certain your father named you his successor because of this," Elsa said as she tapped his head, then she gestured to the rest of him as she continued, "not because of this. Furthermore, I'm certain that Astrid is with you because she cares about you, not because she wants you to try and physically stop every bully that crosses their paths with the two of you."

"That's easy for you to say, you have those awesome ice powers. You went toe-to-toe with Drago's Bewilderbeast without breaking a sweat," Hiccup told her, "I'm just a boy who was lucky enough to find and befriend a Night Fury."

"Oh, believe me, I was sweating the whole time," Elsa countered, "and these powers aren't all they're cracked up to be. In fact, there was once a time I would have done anything just to be rid of them. Besides, possessing these abilities didn't empower me to prevent my sister Anna from dying before my eyes, not once but twice."

* * *

"I have faced off against an invading army of soldiers, bloodthirsty pirates, and hate-filled creeps wielding weapons the likes of which you cannot imagine, and still I managed to hold my own," Kristoff told Astrid in a tone filled with regret, "but then I get taken out of the fight in less than a minute by a woman less than half my size, when she used her knives to pin me to the wall. Even Anna, who is even smaller than that and has no formal combat training, even she lasted longer than that. The worst part of that moment was the scream. The sound Anna made when that witch Azula shot her with lightning, I don't think I can forget it as long as I live, and I wasn't even able to free a single arm to pull her out of the way or to catch her as she fell dead practically at my feet."

* * *

"This sister who died, it's not the same one who's with you now, is it?" Hiccup asked Elsa. When she nodded yes, Hiccup looked at her in confusion and asked, "But how's that possible? How could she have died even once, much less twice, and still be with you now?"

"Mostly luck, I suppose, or maybe there was some higher power at work. I really don't know," Elsa admitted, "The first time it was my own powers that killed her, when I'd accidentally frozen her heart. She could have saved herself by kissing Kristoff to thaw her heart before it was too late. Instead she chose to save me from being killed by her ex-fiancée Hans, throwing herself between me and his sword just before she froze completely solid. Fortunately that also counted as an 'act of true love', and her heart thawed as she came back to me again. As for the second time, you remember those scorch marks on my sister?"

"You mean the ones you said were caused by a crazy princess," Hiccup clarified.

Elsa nodded as she continued, "Princess Azula. She and I were dueling practically one-on-one, and despite the fact that she wielded both fire and lightning, and she probably had more time to learn control over her powers than I did mine, I still managed to fight her to a standstill. However, when she saw she was getting nowhere with me she turned her lightning on Anna. I tried to block her shot but wasn't fast enough, only managing to split the bolt and reduce the amount of lightning that stopped her heart. When I heard Azula laughing as I held my sister's lifeless body in my arms I just lost it, summoning up a blizzard and sending it into Azula's face. Fortunately the blizzard blinded that crazy princess as she tried to counterattack with her lightning, and one of her stray bolts hit Anna and restarted her heart."

"That's intense," Hiccup said, barely breathing, "but why are you telling me this?"

"I'm telling you to illustrate that I understand how you feel, the guilt at not being able to protect someone important to you, the fear that the same people would get hurt by just being around you," Elsa explained, "More than that, however, is that I'm trying to tell you that running away, distancing yourself from those you care about, that kind of 'solution' will only make things worse. When I first hurt Anna when we were kids, I isolated myself in my room. When an argument between us years later caused me to reveal my powers to the whole kingdom, I ran away. None of that worked, as Anna tracked me down anyway, determined to make things right between us. That led to my fear causing my powers to freeze Anna's heart. You see, it was my fear and lack of confidence in myself that essentially killed my sister that first time. However, it was my sister's love and determination, her confidence that there wasn't anything we couldn't face as long as we were together, that was what saved her life back then."

Hiccup nodded in understanding as he said, "You think I should still propose to Astrid."

Elsa nodded as she confirmed, "Not right away, as with the coming conflict it would be classically bad timing, but if you truly love her you should still go let her know that you haven't changed your mind, that your feelings are still the same. Once this crisis is over, that would be the ideal time to ask her. And you shouldn't doubt yourself against Drago. Just because you're not physically powerful enough to beat him in a knock down, drag out fight that doesn't mean you cannot win. Sometimes it's the smarter fighter that wins, not the strongest."

Hiccup took a deep breath, then he straightened and said, "You're right. I've been beating myself up for being trapped into a bad situation beyond my control. I had completely forgotten how I managed to beat Drago before, but your talk reminded me that I had. I now know what to do."

Elsa nodded as she said, "Then let's get to work."

* * *

"So you think that he still wants to….you know?" Astrid asked Kristoff hopefully.

"You kidding? It would take more than his getting battered by that scar-faced jerk with a hook to change the way he feels about you," Kristoff assured her, "Trust me when I say that he's just feeling incredibly guilty about not being able to protect you, not quite the man he feels he's supposed to be. Just give him time and let him know that your feelings haven't changed towards him either. Once he feels better after giving that Drago exactly what he deserves, I'm sure that he'll be popping the question again before you know it."

"In that case, what are we waiting for?" Astrid said as she smiled broadly, slinging her axe onto her back once more, "There's still quite a bit to do, let's get back to it."

* * *

"I can't believe that she'd do this to me!" Anna fumed as Stoick, Valka and Gobber looked on sympathetically, "I mean I risked everything, made the ultimate sacrifice even, in order to save Elsa from that sleaze Hans! And when Elsa had been kidnapped by pirates I was the one who decided to follow the fairies to their island in order to help her! Not to mention I fought against armed soldiers, hood-wearing creeps, and even a lady who's extremely dangerous knives. I'd like to think that I'd proven myself capable of handling myself. Instead, she has Kristoff doing who-knows what while she has big, important talks with Chief Hiccup."

"As for me, she has me here babysitting Sven….uh, no offense…" Anna continues with a glance at Sven, who looks up from munching the hay Gobber provided him to give Anna a good-natured snort before returning to his meal, "…while also helping you guys do….what exactly are we doing here?"

"We're inspecting the saddles that all the riders will be using in the coming battle, checking for excess wear, worn down straps, warped buckles, things like that," Stoick explained to Anna kindly.

"Exactly. You don't want to go into a messy situation like that with a saddle that might fail on you unexpectedly," Gobber added while changing one tool on his missing hand for another, "It's especially a problem for the faster dragons, like the Deadly Nadder and the Night Fury, as by the time they realize you and your saddle have fallen off they'd be too far away to be able to swing back and catch you before you hit the ground. Of course that's a double problem for Toothless, as his handicap makes it impossible for him to fly without a rider onboard. Unless Hiccup locks Toothless' replacement tailfin into place, that is, but since that mechanism is built into his saddle that wouldn't matter: something goes wrong with his saddle, they both go down fast and hard."

"Okay, I get it. This is important too," Anna conceded, "Still, I know what Elsa was doing by this. She was giving me busy work so that I stay safe and out of danger, and I would probably be okay with that if it weren't for the fact I know Elsa will be in the thick of all this. I can't be just standing on the sidelines while my sister is out there risking her life. I mean, you guys understand, right? You're not simply going to be hiding in a basement or anything while Hiccup's facing off against Drago, are you?"

"Certainly not! Skullcrusher and I will be out giving Drago plenty of reasons to regret deciding to show his face around here!" Stoick said boisterously as he patted the front snout horn of a large green and red dragon. Valka then punched Stoick in the arm, and Stoick briefly met his wife's glare with an apologetic look as he focused on Anna and continued, "But if I could keep my son on the ground, leading out people from a place of safety, I probably would. The problem is that Hiccup is one of the best dragon riders we've got. There's nobody here who knows more about dragons or has a tighter bond with their own except perhaps my wife here, and though I was hard pressed to get him to admit it or to admit it myself, Hiccup truly is a natural born leader. To keep my son off the field of battle when he's earned his place on it would be a disservice to him, but that doesn't mean I won't stop trying to ensure he lives long enough to have children of his own."

"And you can't blame your sister for trying to keep you safe," Valka added, "It's only natural for an older sibling to want to try and protect the younger, and it's clear you two share a strong bond."

"Yes, we do," Anna agreed, "but that's all the more reason I need to be by her side. If it wasn't for the number of times I'd helped her, Elsa wouldn't even be here to be such a worrywart."

"I understand, child, and the things you told us you've done certainly makes you appear to be a capable warrior," Stoic told her, "but surely you can see your sister's side of things too. I mean, I saw the look of fear on your face when we came to the docks to confront you. Sorry again about scaring you, by the way."

"It's okay. I know that if the roles were reversed, if Elsa though you guys had hurt me she'd react the same way, and the same goes for me about her," Anna told them, feeling deflated, "I guess the main reason I'm so upset is that I regret that it seems necessary to her. I mean she's so smart and beautiful, and the things she can do with ice and snow are just amazing. As for Kristoff, put a horned helmet on him and place a battle-axe in his hands and he'd fit right in with you guys. But I'm….just me: no ice powers, no strength or combat training, and since the fairy dust wore off I can't even fly anymore." Anna unslung her frying pan, of which she was once so proud, and looked at it gloomily as she said, "All I've got is this."

"I wouldn't go underestimating a skillet, lass," Stoick tried to assure her, "I've been hit with one enough times to know better."

"Well I needed some way to get through that thick skull of yours, love," Valka chuckled.

"The worst part of all this is that you're right, I was scared," Anna admitted, "I've never really had that problem before, not when I was facing the prospect of climbing a mountain alone to go after my sister, not when a pack of wolves was chasing me and Kristoff, and even when sent Marshmallow to chase us off the mountain she'd ran off to, even then I'd leapt off a cliff without any real fear. Heck, even when the Quarrymen had me chained up over an anvil and threatened to bash my brains in the only fear I felt came after, when I was afraid of losing my sister to her need to exact vengeance against them. However, after Azula shot me with lightning, and please don't tell my sister this, but ever since then I've been terrified of dying again."

"You don't need to feel that way, lass," Valka assured her with a smile, "I'm sure that with everything you've accomplished here on Earth, the bravery you've shown where others would have faltered, that Odin would be waiting for you in Valhalla to welcome you at the Table of Kings."

"But that's just it, I never saw anything!" Anna insisted, "I know what you guys believe about the afterlife, and I know what my parents brought me up to believe, and I never saw any of it: no pearly gates or great fields of battle, no Valkyries or angels to greet me, nothing! I passed out, I woke up, nothing in-between. What if, when we die, we're just gone?"

"I do not believe that," Stoick told her, "My ancestors had personally fought alongside Odin and the other gods of Asgard when the Jotun used their ice powers to try and conquer our people. It was he who told us of the life that awaits us once our life on Midgard is done, and I have to believe what he said was the truth. Perhaps you were simply not gone long enough for the Valkyries to find you, but it's not possible for someone as special as you to simply vanish off the face of the earth."

"Are you certain?" Anna asked him fretfully.

"As certain as I am that your friend Sven is actually a bottomless pit in disguise!" Stoick told her, which prompted her to turn and look to see that the hay Sven was completely gone, not a bit to be seen, and he was looking around to try and find more. This elicits laughter out of the four of them, and Valka and Stoick pull Anna into a group hug as Stoick softly said to her, "It'll be all right, my dear. You are special, don't ever let anyone convince you different. And you don't have to worry, I won't tell your sister a thing."

"Thanks," Anna told him as she squeezed him back.

"Won't tell me anything about what?" Anna heard Elsa say from behind her, and she broke out of the group hug to see Elsa standing in the doorway of the blacksmith's shop, Hiccup standing just behind her.

Anna straightened herself up, crossed her arms, and gave Elsa her most irritated look (even though she was no longer feeling it) as she said, "Just that I was feeling put out for you putting me on reindeer-sitting duty."

Elsa's raised eyebrow told Anna that she wasn't buying it, and Anna had to bite her tongue to prevent herself from bursting into giggles that would give her away for sure. Finally, Elsa was the one who chuckled and broke into a grin as she said, "Fine, you don't have to tell me now. I'm sure I'll get it out of you later." As Anna returned her smile, Elsa turned towards Stoick and said, "After talking with your son for a bit about the dragons living here, especially the ones who don't have riders, I believe we've come up with some defensive strategies to make the best use of our resources. At the very least we should be able to slow them down and prevent them from overwhelming us long enough for Hiccup and toothless to personally deal with Drago and his big dragon."

"Sounds great," Stoick told her.

"I also think that we should send messages to everyone who might still feel allegiance to us," Hiccup added, "As it stands we might be greatly outnumbered, more so than even these defenses would be able to effectively restrain for long, so any extra help in this would be most welcome."

"I agree," Valka told him.

"Then I'm glad we brought these," Anna heard one of four young Vikings who just entered say. The one who'd spoken, a rotund young man around Hiccup's age, set a pair of small cages on the table, each of which held a small dragon inside, and said as his friends followed suit, "These guys will each fly to one of the clans with which we've dealt with in the past once released. Just make sure you attach you message before you do."

"Thanks, Fishlegs," Hiccup told him gratefully.

"Sounds like we're about set, then," Anna heard Astrid say, and by craning her head around she was able to spot her by the open door in front beside Kristoff, who gave Anna a small wave and smile. After a few moments of uncomfortable silence, in which Astrid and Hiccup would look at each other then quickly away, Stoick cleared his throat and said, "We'll just leave you two alone for a moment." He then herded Anna and the others towards an entrance in the back, though Gobber had to wave his mace hand at a couple of Vikings who looked like brother and sister in order to get them to move.

They didn't go far, though, as once the back door was closed they all put their ear against it, trying to listen in. After a moment of silence Anna heard a couple of false starts as Hiccup and Astrid tried talking at the same time. Then, one moment later:

**Hiccup:** "Astrid, I'm sorry about what happene…"

**Astrid:** "Don't be. I'm the one who acted like an idiot earlier."

**Hiccup:** "That's ridiculous! You have nothing to apologize for."

**Astrid:** "Of course I do! I let myself get so wrapped up in my own pain and humiliation over what went down on that Island that I didn't think about how you might have been feeling…"

**Hiccup:** "That's okay, Astrid. Really…"

**Astrid:** "Hiccup! Will you let me speak!?"

**Hiccup:** (exclaims in pain) "Ow! Okay, okay! Go ahead."

Anna saw Stoick lock eyes with Valka and smile as he whispered, "Your son," to which Valka responded with a tight smile before they returned their ears to the door.

**Astrid:** "What happened on the island wasn't your fault, Hiccup. If anyone should have anticipated the Flightmare's attack then that would be me. I'm the one whose family name was disgraced by that dragon, I was the first one who learned what that dragon can really do. I should have seen it coming and avoided it, but I didn't, and because of that you had to face Drago alone."

**Hiccup:** "I understand where you're coming from, I really do, but that dragon caught us all off guard. I'm supposed to be the chief, though, not to mention the 'dragon master'. I'm supposed to guide and protect everyone. How can I do that if I'm unable to protect the one person I care most about?"

**Astrid:** "Hiccup, do you think that your father took on every single threat this village ever faced single handed? Or that he solved all the problems we ever had he solved by himself? Of course not! When anything ever threatens us, we all band together to face it as one people, and a Chief gets his wisdom from everyone around him. Your father had all kinds of people around him to help him with ideas to run the village: Gobber, you, I'm sure that before Cloudjumper carried her off your father got plenty of good ideas from your mother."

"Smart girl, that one," Valka whispered smiling to Stoick before they went back to listening.

**Astrid:** "I'm sure that even Mildew, in one of his less cantankerous, dragon-hating moments, managed to provide Stoick a small nugget of an idea that he correctly thought wasn't an entirely bad one. The point is that you shouldn't think that you have to handle everything alone to be a good chief. You are a good leader, you just have to let yourself believe it, and we're all here to help."

**Hiccup:** (sighs) "Yeah, Elsa said something along those lines too."

**Astrid:** They're good people, aren't they?

**Hiccup:** Yeah. We're lucky to have crossed paths with them when we had.

**Astrid:** So….still good?

**Hiccup:** Still good.

Another moment passed, during which the only sound Anna heard was that of Astrid's humming sigh, then…

**Hiccup:** So, I was thinking….once this is all over, we should go and finish that conversation Drago had interrupted.

**Astrid:** (happily) I'll be looking forward to it.

Another moment of silence passed, and Anna pressed her ear harder to the door. As she did so, the door suddenly opened inward, and everyone suddenly found themselves overbalanced as they toppled inside in an untidy dogpile. Even though she was near the top of the heap, Anna felt herself uncomfortable squished as she craned her head up and saw Hiccup looking down at them, his hand on the door and a smile on his face as he said in a teasing-but-not-unkindly tone, "Thanks for giving us a moment of privacy."

Anna chuckled in embarrassment as Gobber's muffled voice said from the bottom of the pile, "No problem." Hiccup and Astrid then helped everyone stand back up again, then Hiccup declared, "Well, we still have a bit of work to do if we're going to be ready by the time Drago gets here. We should get it done."

* * *

Back at his anchor point amongst the icebergs, Drago grumbled irritably to himself. He could have gotten back here hours ago, and he probably should have. However, he had to let off some steam before he got here. If he had come here directly there was a good chance that he'd end up killing a good number of his men before he cooled down, and he needed every man he had left in order to ensure complete victory over Berk. Drago wasn't sure where the white witch had come from, what connection she had to that pathetic Hiccup, or how she managed to obtain such impressive power, but Drago promised himself he'd tear those answers and more from her screaming lips before she died.

As Drago walked along the floating dock, one of his men came up to him and asked, "So, did you do it? Is it done?"

Drago simply growled at him and kept walking. The man apparently didn't know how to take a clue, as he kept pace and continued, "So you failed. Again. Hiccup, son of Stoick the Vast, is still alive."

Drago gave the man a menacing glare, but continued walking, and so the man pressed on, "That's the second time that whelp's beaten you. You might have been worth following once, but some of us are thinking you no longer have what it tak…"

Drago stopped suddenl

Back at Berk, Hiccup was walking towards the edge of the village, reviewing the preparations that had been completed moments ago. Of course there were still a couple of things to put into place, things that Elsa said she would take care of just before Drago and his men arrived. She told him that would introduce a level of surprise Drago couldn't easily plan around, and Hiccup trusted her judgment on this.

As if his thinking about her brought her into being, Hiccup's eyes found Elsa standing beside the tiered perch she'd just finished making with her ice powers a couple of hours ago, and which now stretched along the entire outer edge of the village. It was so beautiful and delicate looking that Hiccup had doubts that it could serve the purpose Elsa had described to him, that is until Grump had flown up to the highest tier (much to Gobber's irritation) and taken a nap there. When the structure withstood Grump's hard landing and the rhythmic, lazy thumping of his heavy tail, Hiccup decided that it would work just fine.

"Hey, Queen Elsa," Hiccup called out to her as he strode up to her, not wanting to startle her as she stared out at the ocean.

"Chief Hiccup," Elsa acknowledged as she turned to face him, "What's up? Need a hand with some other preparations?"

"Nope, we're pretty much set. The women and children who aren't fighting are holed up in the aerie, which is ready to be closed up as soon as Drago arrives. It might have been nice if we could have gotten enough of that special armor made for all the fighters, but since there's no feasible way we could armor our dragons sufficiently against the Flightmare it wouldn't matter much if we wore it: if our dragons go down, then we're going down with them. We'll just have to rely on our dragons' maneuverability to avoid that outcome."

Elsa nodded her understanding, saying, "Well, based on what you showed me today and on what I witnessed upon my arrival on that island, I may have come up with an idea on how we might be able to deal with the Flightmare, should Drago send it against us."

"Really?" Hiccup asked her, "Like what?"

"I don't want to say just yet, in case I'm wrong about my conclusions and my idea doesn't pan out, as I don't want to raise false hopes. I just hope I'm able to see the look on Drago's face if it does work," Elsa told him with a smile.

"I see," Hiccup acknowledged with a smile of anticipation. Then he walked to stand beside Elsa, looking out across the ocean as well as he said, "You know, I have no idea as to what is going to happen, how this will all turn out, so in case I don't get a chance to say this later I just want to say thank you for what you're doing here now. You could have chosen to take your sister and her boyfriend home after you got here, or even after you had driven off the Bewilderbeast, but you chose to stay and help us."

Hiccup saw Elsa absently finger a pendant around her neck, and even though it appeared as a simple design it was also rather strange in its appearance, the inset gem looking as though it was glowing dimly even in the darkness of this night. "Thanks, but I couldn't leave, not really," Elsa said after a moment, "I don't really know my way home from here, nor do I know anyone here well enough to be able to ask them to guide me. Even if I could find my way one way or another, I couldn't just leave you to face that creep alone. My conscience wouldn't allow that. Besides, I've come to think of you as a friend in the short time I've come to know you, and no matter what I don't abandon my friends."

"I see, well I thank you anyways," Hiccup told her, and Elsa smiled and nodded in acknowledgement. Anna walked up and stood next to Elsa on her other side. When Anna also saw the pendant Elsa was fingering, Anna gave her sister a curious smile, asking, "Now Elsa, you weren't just thinking of contacting Julian to ask him if he could take me home without you, now were you?"

"Huh?" Elsa said, caught off guard, "What do…why…what are you talking about?"

"Come on, you always finger that pendant whenever you think about him," Anna said slyly, "Now stop evading and answer my question: Were you just thinking about think about calling him to take me home?"

Elsa sighed and chuckled in exasperation as she said, "I cannot deny that the thought had crossed my mind….briefly, but no, I wasn't seriously considering contacting him."

"Well good," Anna replied, "Because the only way I would go home now is if you were going with me, and I think we both know you well enough to know that isn't happening, not with what is facing these people. So it's rather simple: you stay - I stay, you go - I go."

Elsa sighed and chuckled softly, asking, "When did you get to be so stubborn?"

"Don't know, probably just backlash from years of you locking yourself in your room with no explanation," Anna told her, still smiling warmly, "Don't worry about it, just know that from now until we get back home you're stuck with me."

Elsa chuckled again, then she squinted in the dim light as Hiccup asked her, "So, this Julian, is he someone….special to you?"

"Julian's….a long story," Elsa answered him as she continued to focus her gaze in the same direction, an icicle forming in her hand. As she put the smaller end to her eye, which Hiccup noticed was flat and not pointed, Anna asked her, "Elsa, what is it?"

Elsa stared through her icicle for a moment longer, which Hiccup figured was working like a spyglass, then she lowered it and said, "Hiccup, go get the others."

Hiccup put the pieces together in his head, then he asked, "Elsa, did you just see…?"

Elsa nodded as she said, "It's Drago. He's here."

y and his good arm shot forward, his grip choking off the man's insolent words as he lifted him from the pier by the neck. Then, with a powerful swing, Drago tossed the man behind him, his body clearing the stern of the nearest ship. The man's yells were only heard for a few seconds before they were drowned out by a tremendous splash as his Bewilderbeast leapt out of the water, caught the naysayer cleanly in his mouth, then dived back into the frozen depths.

Belatedly, Drago recalled that he took his time returning in order to prevent his killing any of his men, then he mentally shrugged as he figured one less man won't make much of a difference. Drago didn't know whether his Bewilderbeast actually ate the dogs he tossed him or if it just left them floating under an iceberg, but either way it served as a good example to those who remained.

"Does anyone else think I no longer have what it takes!?" Drago bellowed to the others who'd watched the spectacle with wide, fearful eyes. Drago didn't hear anyone respond, he wasn't sure that he even heard anyone dare to take a breath. "Then load everything onto the ships and weigh anchor!" Drago ordered them in the same volume, "We set sail immediately! Berk will not see another sunrise!"


End file.
